Tag: lotto

We have all heard horror stories about the curse of the lottery winners. Some people win a staggering amount of money that is truly life-changing yet within a a few short years they either have nothing left or are in more debt than they were before they won.

Win It & Keep It

However, you can be like the vast majority of other winners who have won big and kept their money. With sound financial planning and a level head you can use your winnings to fund the rest of your life without ever having to worry about money again.

Of course before you can learn how to spend, save and invest your winnings you will need to learn how to win the lottery.

But once you do have your winnings safely tucked away in your bank account you really need to learn how to keep them there.

Financial Planning

The difference between lottery winners who keep their money, or even grow it, and those who lose it all really lies in their mental attitude. No matter how much money you have you must realise that it is not infinite. Your supply of cash will run out sooner or later unless you invest it wisely.

Investing

Investing your winnings is a good idea as long as you invest the money wisely. Giving ex-gambling addict Uncle Tom $2 million to start his orange tree orchid business in Alaska is perhaps not the most prudent of financial decisions. Although this is a striking and exaggerated example of a bad investment idea you would be surprised at how similar it is to some of the investments made by past lottery winners.

If investment is not something you want to delve into, as many lottery winners have lost their money through bad investments, then you should at least budgeting your money so it last you through the coming years.

High Interest Banking

Depending on the amount you actually win you can live out your life in relative comfort without ever having to spend a dime.

In the USA and other countries there is already the option to take a payment plan. For people who have always struggled with their finances this is often the best course of action. Having a steady income stream means you are less likely to end up in serious debt with no money at all (as long as you don’t sell your right to the payment to a third party).

In the UK National Lottery, Euromillions and and other lotto draws take a payment plan is not an option. However, if the idea of having a yearly wage is more appealing than being overwhelmed by a huge amount of money that you could easily lose there are other options.

Placing your winnings into a high interest account and never touching that capitol can still allow you to have an extremely comfortable lifestyle just by living-off the interest!

The only disadvantage to this approach is waiting for the first interest amount to accumulate. This may not take that long if you won several million on the lotto.

Financial Advice

Whatever amount you win or whatever you plan to do with your winnings it is always advisable to speak to a qualified financial adviser.

Do not pick your local agent who is used to dealing with normal financial matters such as missed mortgage payments or debt consolidation. Seek out a professional with experience dealing in the type of amounts of money that you have!

Such experienced financial adviser can really give you some great advice but remember the money is yours and no one will look after better than you.

I hope this advice is helpful and I hope if you do win the lottery (or have already) that you enjoy the winnings for the rest of your life.

It is true that to win a lottery jackpot you do need a certain amount of luck it is completely false to state that you can only win the lottery through luck. Sometimes we can give luck a little helping hand.

There are many different ways to increase your “luck” in the lottery and although most of these ways can never guarantee you a jackpot win they can guarantee you small to medium wins.

There are lottery players, many of whom use the systems outlined in this blog, who have become millionaires and multi-millionaires through multiple non-jackpot wins.

After all, I don’t know about you but I would rather have 10 wins of $250,000 or more than just 1 win of $1 million.

Syndicates

Playing as part of a syndicate is a smart way to hedge your bets.

Syndicates are usually composed of many players usually friends or work colleagues. However, as few as 2 players can be in a syndicate and as many as you like. The more people in your syndicate the more chances you will have to win.

Having multiple players playing their games together means you can buy more tickets. Just remember that this is a double-edged sword; more players means more tickets but it also means less winnings go to you when the profits are divided up.

Playing as part of a syndicate means you can also take advantage of lottery systems that involving wheeling as these systems require multiple ticket purchases.

Wheeling Systems

Lottery wheeling is one of the most popular and successful methods employed by lottery winners.

Wheeling systems essentially use mathematics and the law of probability to arrange more numbers than you can normally play with into multiple combinations that give you full coverage of all numbers. Simply put it just means you can choose more numbers than normal thus giving you more chances to pick the winners.

For example, in a pick 6 game, where you need to pick all 6 numbers correctly to win the jackpot, wheeling numbers would let you pick 7 numbers instead of 6 and wheel the combinations so you have all numbers drawn with each other on a ticket.

An extra number may not sound like a lot but it increases your odds of winning the jackpot from 14 million to 1 down to just half a million to 12 and all for just 28 tickets; that’s 28 bucks! Imagine how much you can reduce your odds by with 8 numbers or 9 or 10 …or…whatever amount you want!

Obviously the more numbers you wheel the more expensive it will be to play as you will need to buy more tickets. This is why it is often best to play in a syndicate.

Hot Numbers & Patterns

Most lottery companies offer a way to view past drawings online with a list of hot numbers that are drawn more often and will also show you wish numbers are drawn together most often.

Many successful lottery players study past lotto trends and pick only numbers that they consider to be “hot”. You shoudl also consider reviewing what to do when you do win on the lotto.

In the same vain these players will avoid cold numbers and obvious combinations that never win – such as all consecutive numbers such as 1,2,3,4,5,6 or all even numbers such as 4,6,8,10,12,14 or all odd numbers such as 1,3,5,7,9,11 etc.

Hybrid Systems

There are other systems that make the bridge between using hot numbers and lottery patterns and wheeling.

These systems can be very powerful as they combine 2 proven systems for improving your odds.

Some people win big and lose it all. Make sure you aren’t one of them! Use some sound financial planning to ensure you keep your money.

Winning the lottery may seem like a dream come true for you but for some people it was more like living a nightmare.

Take a look at how some people rode their luck too long and, after winning big in the lotto, lost it all .

Below are 5 stories of lottery winners who blew it!

The Winners Who Lost it All

Here are some stories that are typical of people who fail to adequately prepare for their future after they win big on the lotto.

Luke Pittard

Welsh born UK resident Luck was lucky enough to land a £1.3 million (approx. $2.6 million at today’s rates) lottery win back in 2006. However, although this may sound like a lot of money it wasn’t enough for Luke.

After buying an extravagant wedding with a trip to the Canary Islands and a house for himself and his new bride Luke did not have enough money to live on and was forced to seek employment at his local MacDonald’s.

Willie Hurt

Back in 1989 Willie had a $3.1 million win on the Michigan Lottery.

Unfortunately Willie developed a drug abuse problem and after only 2 years was divorced from his wife, flat bloke, without custody of his kids and facing a charge of attempted murder.

Evelyn Adams

Believe it or not Evelyn was lucky enough to win the New Jersey Lottery not once but twice. Yet, she still managed to blew a cool $5.4 million – her entire winnings gambling in Atlantic City.

She is currently completely broke and lives in the only accommodation she can afford – a cheap trailer park.

Michael Carroll

Back in 2002 at the tender age of just 19 Michael won £9.7 million (approx. $15.4 million at today’s rates) on the UK National Lottery.

After an 8 year spending spree splashing out on drink, drugs, gambling and prostitutes Michael found himself claiming unemployment benefit and living off £56.25 (approx. $89) per week.

Billy Bob Harrell Jr.

Even a whopping $31 million isn’t enough for some people to be happy.

Billy Bob was a Pentecostal preacher who also worked as a stock boy for Home Depot when he landed his massive fortune.

Even after buying 7 homes, one of which was a ranch, and owning several highly desirable cars Billy Bob could not keep his marriage together and eventually committed suicide.

Don’t Join Them

If you do win the lottery be sure not to become another crushed lottery statistic.

Remember that the majority of lottery winners do not blow all their money. They keep it and live happily ever after (at least financially).